During vehicle development, full-vehicle tests are typically performed on prospective vehicles to ensure drivability and durability. Such tests are usually performed using a prototype, fully-assembled, vehicle on various test roads of varying surfaces (i.e., cobblestone, dirt, gravel, etc.).
Full-vehicle tests are generally expensive due to high assembly and component costs associated with testing a prototype vehicle. Therefore, individual vehicle components that require testing on a fully-assembled prototype vehicle require a manufacturer to spend more money than would be necessary if the same component could be tested on a separate test fixture. For example, truck boxes and truck cabs can typically only be tested for durability if a vehicle is cycled through either a full-vehicle test on actual test roads or in a laboratory on a full-vehicle test fixture. In this manner, when design changes are made to a truck box or truck cab, full-vehicle tests, complete with suspension components, are often required to properly validate the new design. As such, manufacturers incur high costs in validating individual vehicle components when full-vehicle tests are required.